News

16th June, 2015, Dublin, Ireland: CarTrawler, through its recently-acquired subsidiary Cabforce, is extending its range of services through a new partnership with Eurostar that puts stations on the map.

For your next train journey to Europe, CarTrawler – a leading travel-technology platform and online aggregator of car rental and ground transportation services – can now offer taxi transfers at all Eurostar’s destinations, in the heart of London, Brussels, Paris, Lyon and even Eurostar’s new destination in the south of France.

Pre-booked ground transport services are now available in all product categories at Eurostar stations: best value, executive and minibus. That means a driver will be waiting with your name on a sign when you arrive, letting you skip the inevitable queues at taxi ranks, and get straight to business meetings, the Eiffel Tower or the beach more smoothly.

“Now with our Cabforce quality-assured product, we’ve linked up every part of your journey from London to mainland Europe and back again. Starting your Eurostar journey with a transfer to the train station is the most convenient, seamless way to book a journey,” Ingarfield says.

Eurostar passengers receive a pre-travel email to remind them about taxi booking options, with a link to the Eurostar booking site for cabs and mini-buses, powered by Cabforce. The best aggregated prices, and other service options are displayed on the screen.

Lionel Benbassat, Head of Marketing, Brand and Product at Eurostar says, “We are pleased to extend our taxi booking services to all our customers with the launch of this exciting new partnership with Cabforce which will enable our customers to enjoy a more streamlined experience linking their train journey with transfers at either end. With the new booking platform, passengers will benefit from door-to-door service as they travel from the heart of London to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Lyon or even the south of France.”

CarTrawler connects business and leisure customers and online travel retailers with more road and rail transport solutions than they will find anywhere else. Over 70 international airlines and 2,000 travel retailers around the world trust CarTrawler to provide their customers with real-time access to over 1,500 leading and independent car rental agents, coach transfers, rail networks and chauffeur drive services at 30,000 locations in 174 countries. CarTrawler also owns and operates the Cabforce, Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire brands. The company headquarters and Customer Centre of Excellence are located in Dublin, Ireland, with additional offices in Boston and London. CarTrawler is private equity backed by BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners. For further information, please visit www.cartrawler.com

2. The current Eurostar train was first introduced into service in 1994 carrying 750 passengers and operating at speeds of up to 300kph. Since then, the fleet of 28 trains has carried more than 150 million passengers between London and the Continent. Following their refurbishment these trains will continue to form a core part of the Eurostar fleet. The new e320 will carry around 900 passengers at speeds of up to 320kph.

3. Eurostar was established in 1994 as a partnership between three railway companies: SNCF, SNCB and LCR (London and Continental Railways). On 1 September 2010, Eurostar became a single, unified corporate entity owned by three shareholders: SNCF, SNCB and LCR. LCR’s holding was transferred to the Treasury in 2014, and sold by the UK government to a consortium comprising Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and Hermes Infrastructure on 28th May 2015.

4. Eurostar is a founder member of Railteam, a partnership between Europe’s leading high-speed train operators that is developing simpler ways to book and travel on the fast-expanding, European high-speed rail network.